World of Enchantment in the Realms of Safari Ltd.: Mountain Dragon Manor

World of Enchantment in the Realms of Safari Ltd.: Mountain Dragon Manor:          Evergreen forest encased in vibrant colors surrounded by luscious beauty as far as the eye can see I find myself perched on a rock ...

Tabby Cat of Xyla

           If you have read my first blog you will have already been acquainted with Arris the Tabby Cat. If not, let me introduce you: Arris is my cat and I am Audrey, Princess of the land Xyla.  Interested in more of the story? I encourage you to visit my first blog, you won't want to miss it!
Mountain Dragon Manor

           As we can recall, Arris was the first between him and me to befriend a Mountain Dragon: Here they are below.

 As you can imagine (if you have not already read the story) it was a very interesting and jaw dropping (in a "i cant believe this is happening" kind of way") experience.

           But let me get to the point of why Arris is being highlighted. This beautiful cat is a replica from Safari Ltd's Collection. Any replica from their collection can inspire imagination, education, creativity, and editions to people's private collections.

            Lets take a closer look at Arris!

              Look at this handsome cat! Very beautifully done eyes, it is obviously a skill to have to hand paint such small detail such as the eyes on this cat. as well as the little pink nose and the lines for his mouth. This tabby has a very rustic orange that gradients into a lighter orange the closer you get to his paws. Accented in a creamy white striped pattern completed with a pure white chest.

There is texture as well to this cat, both visually as well as to the touch. Visually the texture is seen to help suggest the cat is well, fuzzy. This texture does a good job to do that with how it flows over what would be the cats muscles. A delicate texture with the right kind of curves and lines to insinuate fur.

Also there is a glossy coating on the eyes which is great and brings more life to the cat. As in real life in a cats eye, or any eye there is a glossy-ness to the eye. Also this glossy-ness suggests depth to the eye.

If you are to run your fingers across the cat you as well feel it, but its not rough, it is smooth to the touch and is not aggressive as if to suggest some other  texture this cat could possible be covered in.

All in all this is a great edition to any one's collection whether you are a cat lover, or just collect any animal figure. This is also a great tool to use for teaching or exercising imagination.

Want to own this figure? visit Safari Ltd's website, or visit your local toy or craft store that carries safari brand.  (which you can find store that carry Safari on their website)

Safari Ltd Website







           

Mountain Dragon Manor

         Evergreen forest encased in vibrant colors surrounded by luscious beauty as far as the eye can see I find myself perched on a rock face at the base of majestic thundering falls. The water is so clear it is like it's not there. Such a calming fragrance floats in the air and as you breath it in you feel more alive then you did the last breath, you become one with the land. As everything is embraced I gaze up into a sapphire sky where soft clouds dance far away and the suns light hugs everything. I also see a peak that belongs to a mighty mountain, what wonders it holds? I do not know, but I will quest to it, for it calls my name.
         I am Audrey, princess of Xyla. (pronounced zyla) I have come to this land just recently, this is where I will stay and live my adventures. Will you join me?

         It has been a day since I decided to quest to this mountain as I have been preparing; not much to pack other than a few days worth of food, some snacks, and I can't for get the treats for my only companion, Arris, my orange tabby cat. He is a one of a kind cat if I do say so myself, for he has yellow metallic eyes that shine as bright as the sun. Orange fur that is as soft as a rabbits and has an iridescent sheen to it, and a white chest that shines bright like diamonds.

         We were off to a great start, half the day has gone by and we were almost to the ledge of where all the endless flow of the waterfall cascades down and we stopped in our tracks. For what was gazed upon was something truly stunning. I rubbed my eyes and Arris just opened his eyes so wide in curiosity it was like he had no lids. It was still there, a dragon basking at the mouth of what I now realized is a cave. Relaxing in the sun as it's warmth blanketed the dragons scales this dragon was still unaware of our presence. That is, until Arris turned that around. As we all know any cat is a brat, anytime something intrigues them they are right on top investigating and in this case possibly about to walk into fire if this does not go well. Slowly Arris walked up to the dragon, taking several steps then pausing as if he was just a statue, he made it up to the dragons tail. Scrunched up, Arris positioned himself and prepared to bat this sleeping dragons tail. His paw was stiff in the air as if it was turned to stone, he was ready. Just like that he took a swat...... nothing happened, and again another swat..... still nothing happened. Arris finally rotated his head completely sideways in confusion as to why nothing was happening.
         Meanwhile I was 15 feet away saying to myself " Come oooooooon Arris give me a break!" At this point Arris was in pounce position wiggling his butt, as he was about to go for it...... and he did, right on the dragons face. I was cringing thinking oh no this is not going to go well. So I covered my face as I saw the dragon stand up quickly from it's slumber. I was seeing nothing, but hearing everything, Arris bolting across the rock as I hear is claws scrape across the surface, growling and thumps and finally a big thud. I had to look as what I was hearing was not exactly not sounding right to what I thought I knew was going to happen. I could not believe my eyes......both Arris and this dragon were rolling around playing with each other.
          I slowly came out from where I was hiding and the dragon saw me flared its wings out and growled at me but luckily Arris quickly trotted over to me with his tail raised in pure joy as he meowed in joy for seeing me as if he lost me. The dragon relaxed and looked upon us as if he was studying what was happening. He slowly started to approached as I nervously petted my cat. When the dragon finally was an arms length away I looked up and both our eyes met; I reached out my hand and the dragon rubbed his face on my face..... not what I was expecting but I knew then that I had just befriended this dragon.




It is a dragon replica like Safari Ltd's Mountain Dragon that can inspire a world of fantasy. Just like the one I have written above. From the coloring to the details it is an exquisite figure for any Dragon lover and collector, but can also be a great figure for teaching, playing, and many other options that I will try to cover.

I will start off with photo shopping,  if you are so inclined these are great things to green screen into backgrounds and make digital story books or simply cool photo's out of.  As I was thinking of the many idea's to blog about I had thought of another great project you can do with these, but I will touch on that later on.

Here is my example of a photo shopped project I did:

If you do not have access to beautiful programs like photo shop, Illustrator, Gimp, etc do not be let down, as here was the idea that I just thought of as I was typing this blog up.  Get a disposable camera, or any camera that takes 35mm film.... or I supposed even a digital camera will do. Take yourself and your figure (or your little one and his/her figure/figures) and photograph your figures in different locations, write up a story to go along with those pictures and make a home-made story book.  This will exercise your imagination, and or it will help teach your little ones imagination and creativity. Don't worry I will be definitely doing this project and then blogging about it!

You can also simply photograph them, especially if you are a photographer like moi! I guess  in these examples below they can be used as either in the story book idea, or as simple photographs you can use as accent pieces in your living room or child's room!

I would also suggest making movies with these creatures, I have been working on a short film with some of mine so I will someday soon be posting about it as well as sharing! :) Anyways anywhere from simple live action to even stop motion would be a fun activity for you or for you and your children to do together. When I was small I did do live action movies with my Jurassic park dinosaurs with my dad and I do remember that very well, it was fun, imaginative, and it made some great memories with my dad... all on film!


Lets look at the details of this Mountain dragon, as if you are a collector it may interest you in seeing up close the details and realism of Safari Ltd's Mountain Dragon.

Here is a close up of his face! he has two sets of eyes as you can see, and his face is full of details! and extremely impressive executed job safari did over all as you will soon see. The color as well is fantastic as it is real, but also vibrant and excellent as you will see in the following pictures!.

Here is his chest.

One of his Front Arms.

A close up of the details in the wings.

Backside Shot.

Neck Shot.

And last but not least, his underside shot.

Here are a few extra shots!

With all of that eye candy my blog is coming to a close. As I will say again, Safari Ltd's Mountain Dragon is a highly recommended edition to any child's toys, or for any Dragon Lover and Collector. So many possibilities can be had with all of Safari's Replica's.

Do you want to read more? Stay tuned for my next blog on Arris the Tabby cat, the other star in my story of "Mountain Dragon Manor"  In fact here is a photo of these two buddies together!